Woman held for duping 80-year-old by swapping her gold earrings in central Delhi

A 50-year-old woman who allegedly duped an 80-year-old woman by entering her central Delhi home on the pretext of knowing the victim’s late daughter and swapping her gold earrings with fake ones has been arrested, police said on Monday.

The incident came to light on October 30 when a PCR call was received at Chandni Mahal police station reporting the theft of a gold earring. The complainant told police that an unknown woman had visited her home a day earlier, claiming to have known her late daughter, they said.

Gaining her trust through conversation, the accused returned the next day and told the elderly woman that one of her earrings had loosened. On the pretext of tightening it, she allegedly swapped the gold earring with an artificial one and left, a senior police officer said.

A case was registered and an investigation was launched. Police examined multiple CCTV cameras across the area and carried out extensive local enquiries.

Though the woman was wearing a hijab, her gait, eyes and part of her forehead were visible in the footage. These features were matched with the description provided by the complainant, who has limited vision.

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After sustained technical and manual surveillance, the accused, a resident of Kala Mahal, was traced and apprehended on November 15. During interrogation, she allegedly admitted to committing the crime for monetary gain and said she had brought an artificial earring of a similar size and design to execute the swap.

Police said efforts are on to recover the stolen gold earrings and verify whether she was involved in similar offences.